Bottle pouring spout



June 16, 1942 F. M. GAINES n 2,285,906

' BOTTLE POURIG slPoUT` Filed May 13, 1.940

Snoentor mw 9L Cittorn'e.

Patented `lune 16, 1942 BOTTLE POURING SPOUT Frank Melton Gaines, Louisville, Ky., assignor to Frankfort Distilleries, Incorporated, Louisville, Ky.,'a corporation of West Virginia Application May 13, 1940,seria1N0. 334,933

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to improvements in bottle poiuing spouts, and has for an object to provide an improved spout for use in connection with whiskey and other bottles in which convenience is promoted in the pouring and decanting of liquors and other liquids and in which the refilling of the bottle with counterfeit contents will be discouraged.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved tment for whiskey or other bottles involving Aa movable valve spout adapted to occupy closed and opened positions, and which when opened enables the bottle to empty faster.

The invention also has for an object the inclusion in the tment of an internal member in the bottle having the function to avoid leaving in the bottle any substantial residue of the liquid in the final pouring or decanting of the contents.

The invention also contemplates the provision of an improved device or tment for bottles in which pouring will be practically dripless and which when the pouring operation is concluded and the tment moved to closed position will avoid the discharge of any residual `drops of the liquid which may have remained in and about the discharge mouth of the pouring spout.

Further objects of the invention are to pro- In the drawing, wherein like symbols referto like or corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure l is a side elevation, with parts broken away and parts shown in section, of an improved bottle pouring spout constructed in accordance with the present invention and shown applied to the fragment of a whiskey or other bottle.

Figure 2 is a similar view taken at substantially right angles to Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical central section taken on the line 3 3 in Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a plan view of an improved gasket employed.

Figure 5 is a cross section through a form of ferrule or ring employed, and

Figure 6 is a fragmentary front elevation of the adjoining parts of the two fltment members showing a method of limiting the relative rotary movement of the same.

' Referring more particularly to the drawing, I0 designates the neck of a whiskey bottle or other container. Such bottles usually have a lip II with an annular groove I2 therein.

In accordance with the invention I place a plug I3 in the neck of the bottle so it ts with frictional tightness therein. Such plug is provided with an external substantially horizontal flange I 4 at its upper portion which overlies the rim of the bottle neck and rests upon a washer I5 which seats upon such rim of the bottle neck.

The washer may be made of rubber, ber or other desired material and its presence at, this point prevents leakage from the bottle along the outside of the plug I3.

Extending vertically and longitudinally through the plug are liquid outlet and air inlet passages I6 and I'I respectively. A1; the lower end of the plug is a quill I8 which is a reduced part of the plug I3 and is produced by the formation of a step I9 and curved walls 20 and 2l. The curvedv wall 2D extends from the step I9 downwardly and toward the left as viewed in Figure 3. The curved wall 2l slopes in the same direction and is substantially concentric with that portion of the curved wall 20 within which it extends. The curved wall 2l slopes down to a port 22 which establishes communication at the lower end of the quill between the passages IB and Il. The curved wall 2i is on the lower end of partition 23 which separates the passages I6 and I'I.

Positioned above and upon the plug is a valve spout 24. A substantially horizontal outstanding flange 25 at the lower portion of the valve spout 24 rests in common with the bottom of the valve spout upon a gasket 26 of rubber or other appropriate material which may or may not be connected or ai'lixed to the valve spout 24 by suitable adhesive indicated 'at 21. An air inlet passage 28 in the valve spout 24 is oblique in position and communicates at its lower end with the upper end of the similar passage I1 of the plug I3, which passage Il is preferably coaxial throughout the entire length of the plug and quill.

In the Valve spout 24 is also a liquid outlet pas# sage composed of the acutely angled sections 29 and 30, of which the section 29 is the outlet section., This outlet section 29 slopes upwardly toward the discharge orifice 39. The discharge orifice is in an outwardly projecting part 4I) of the valve spout 24 and the orifice 39 is undercut as indicated in Figure 3. The lower end of the passage section 39 communicates with the angular upper end 3| of the liquid outlet passage I6 of the plug.

Bosses 32 and 33 extend downwardly from the lower portion of the valve spout 24 and surround the lower ends of the passages 28 and 30 re-spectively. These bosses extend into openings made to receive the same in the gasket 26 whereby portions of the gasket 25 surround both bosses 32 and 33. The gasket 26 also lies against the upper face of the plug I3 and the lower face 0f the valve spout 24. It therefore forms an effective seal against any liquid seeping out of the passages between the plug I3 and the valve spout 24.

A ferrule 34 of metal, Celluloid or like material is of a suflicient diameter to fit over the flangesu I4 and 25 and the same has upper and lower inturned ends 35 and 36. The inturned lowerend 35 occupies the annular groove I2 of the bottle neck while the upper inturned end 35 engages over the flange 25. Thus the ferrule 34 performs the dual function of binding the valve spout 24 to the plug I3 and binding the entire fitment or device to the neck of the bottle.

As shown in Figure 6 a pin 3'! on the plug I3 projects upwardly and into a circumferential slot 38 in the valve spout 24 in order to limit the rotational movement of the valve spout 24 in either angular direction.

In use of the device when the valve spout 24 is turned in one direction it will cause its passages to align or register with the similar passages in the plug. This position of the parts is shown in Figure 3. By Idecanting or tilting the bottle to the right in this gure the liquid contents will flow out through the liquid outlet passages I5, 3|, 33 and 29 and out the discharge orifice 39 into a whiskey glass or other destination. Meantime air may be drawn in through the aligning passages 23 and I'I in order t0 relieve any vacuum which would tend to be created by the removal of the liquid contents. In this way fast emptying of the bottle is provided for.

When the valve spout 24 is rotated to the opposite limit of its movement the alignment between the passages of the spout 24 and those of the plug I3 is destroyed and the bottle is closed effectively for all purposes as though a stopper had been inserted in the same.

In assembling the parts the washer I may be iirst slipped over the plug I3 and the plug thereupon inserted in the neck of the bottle until the ange I4 and the washer I5 are tightly against the rim of the neck. Then the ferrule 34 in the condition shown in dotted lines in Figure 5 is slipped downwardly over the flange I4 and the bottle neck and thereupon the valve spout 24 with its gasket in place is inserted downwardly upon the plug i3 and within the upper end portion of the ferrule 34.

The ends 35 and 36 of the ierrule may be thereupon upset inwardly so as to bind the parts together and to the bottle, allowing of the free rotation of the valve spout 24 within the limits of the pin and slot connection 3l', 38.

The step I9 and the open side of the quill I8 permit all of the contents of the bottle to be drained out the liquid discharge passages while the continuance of the air inlet passage I'I down to the lower end of the quill and the continuance of the partition 23 down to the low point of the quill insures that the liquid contents `of the bottle does not get into the air inlet passages and spill out of the diagonal or oblique passage 28. The curved walls 22 and 2| also subserve this purpose and tend to guide the liquid contents down into the passage I5 when the bottle is upturned or decanted.

The port 22 provides a means of communication between the passages I6 and |'I at their highest points when the bottle is upturned in order to break the vacuum in alignment with the outlet of the liquid which is the most favorable point for breaking such vacuum and the point at which any trapping of the liquid would be most apt to occur.

The valve spout 24 may be of any solid Inaterial, transparent or opaque and the gasket 2E may be of cork, rubber or any flexible material.

The plug I3 may likewise be solid and held rigid to the bottle with an intervening washer I5 to prevent leakage. All the parts are held together in their proper relation by the ring or ferrule 34,

In the off position the gasket 26 closes the ends of .the passages I5 and and thus thoroughly seals off any seepage of liquid. The turns in the larger liquid outlet passage and the slope 22, 2| from the larger opening IE to the smaller opening make refilling difficult. The plug I3 fitting into the bottle makes the bottle empty faster and prevents the leaving of much liquid in the bottle when empty. The arrangement also makes the device substantially dripless, easy to apply mechanically and fast emptying. Any residual liquid in and about the orifice 3S or in the passage section 29 will tend to flow back into the bottle when theV bottle is placed upright and due to the undercutting of the orice 39 the action of dripping will also be minimized.

When the bottle is erected after being decanted the return ow of the liquid contents down through the passage I6 and past the port 22 will tend to syphon air into the bottle through the passages 23 and I1 and this will further tend to draw down the liquid throughoutJ all the passages 2S, 30, 3| and I5 thus avoiding dripping and leakage.

The gasket 26 may be integral with either the valve spout 24 or the plug I3 and it may be of soft rubber or of hard rubber or other maM terial. The washer I5 may also be of soft rubber or of hard rubber.

The ring or ferrule 34 may be of a material which is well known, having the capacity to sustain a bending in onls7 one direction so that after the bends 35 and 3S have been made therein in the act of installing the device upon the bottle, any attempt by counterfeiters to remove the ring as a preliminary to taking off the valve spout 24 for the purpose of refilling the bottle with spurious contents, would result in the break age of the ring 34 and if this ring were marked with the name of the genuine proprietor of the whiskey product or with some trade-niark or trade name, owing to the inability of the counterfeiter or bootlegger to obtain a new supply of the rings or ferrules from the authorized source7 even though a substitute ferrule could be utiliz-ed to reaflix the valve spout 24 in place, the lack of the proper ferrule would immediately reveal the fraud and thus the public would be apprised that the contents was not genuine.

Important particulars in connection with this invention are: rst, the zigzag opening which prevents relling; and second, the small groove which leads to the opening of the air-vent on the inside of the bottle. This last-mentioned also prevents refilling or at least makes it diflin cult.

Should the bottle be laid on its side With the orice 39 up relling would be diiicult, if not impossible, with the zigzag passages but in any aasaeoe event if liquid did enter the bottle as soon as it vbuilt up to the level of passage I1 an airlock would be established preventing the entrance o'f further liquid. Also yduring the entrance of the liquid through passage IB such entering liquid would flow down curved wall 2| and through port Wall 22 across passage I1 thus forming a substantial air-lock. While this amount of fluid in the end of passage I1 might be forced out of the passage Il by the pressure still it would make the action of refilling ineiectively intermittent and troublesome and besides the piston of liquid moving out passage l1 would tend to draw other liquid out with it and thus the passages I'l and 28 would tend to move the liquid out almost as fast as it entered. The opening 28 will be very small so as to prevent lling from this side.

It is obvious that various changes and modications may be made in the details of construction and -design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claim.

What is claimed is:

An improved bottle pouring spout comp-rising a plug having liquid outlet and air inlet passages therein, a quill portion on the inner part of said plug with a laterally cut-away and stepped portion laying open one side of said liquid outlet passage for an appreciable `distance upwardly -along said plug, the walls of said cut-away portion being curved from the stepped to the lower free end of said quill, said quill having a port between the two passages at the lowermost part of said quill, said quill and plug having a partition between said passages with a lower curved edge sloping toward said port, a valve spout rotatably mounted upon said plug and having corresponding liquid outlet and air inlet passages, and means for yconnecting said spout to the plug and to the bottle.

FRANK MELTON GAINES. 

